Awakening
by BrokenChosenofEva
Summary: Awakening arc of the Pilot's Table series. The Children and their guardians awake on the shore, each having made a choice within Instrumentality after experiencing a host of possibilities. (Complete.) Sequel in the works.
1. Just Breathe

**Neon Genesis Evangelion  
Pilot's Table  
By D.A.**

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Title: Just Breathe  
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 15 (Breath)  
Word Count: 1400+  
Rating: T  
Summary: Every lifetime from within Instrumentality took it's toll on them. But in the end it only made them stronger. Strong enough to save Humanity. And more importantly, strong enough to save each other.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Notes: Hope you enjoy it. It was satisfying to write, and I felt better once it was off my chest. I honestly think it's one of my best chapters. Part one of the "Awakening" arc.

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_Just breathe._

_Take a slow, calm, deep breath. Focus on what's right in front of your eyes._

Shinji slowly opened his eyes, and before he blinked, before he tried to get them to focus, he saw red.

Like copper.

Like Asuka. She leaned over him, the dim orange sky backlighting her with her hands planted on either side of his head and her knees beside his waist, watching him blink once and finally focus on her face. Then he smiled, shaky at first and then firm and strong, and focused solely on her.

And it made her breath catch in her throat. And when it seemed like she'd stopped breathing at all, Shinji shakily took a breath.

It was like a signal, and both of them exhale. The air leaves them quickly, a burst of breath that washes over each other's face, and they gasp in air. In synch, just like when they trained to fight Israfel, they breathe for a moment. Sometimes gasping, sounding like they're holding in sobs. Sometimes moaning, a sound filled with pain and fear, and a touch of longing. Sometimes whispering, each other's name on their lips as they exhale, a touch of despiration filling the sound.

Finally, something snaps inside Shinji. Asuka sees it in his eyes, and knows she doesn't want to hear words yet. Just as he opens his mouth to speak, she darts her head down the last few inches separating them and their lips meet.

And it was nothing like their first.

Their first was part curiousity, part desire, part boredom. And it hurt afterwards. It had felt so right in the heat of the moment, but when he finally pulled away desperate for air they both knew it had been the wrong time and wrong reasons.

It had crippled them from being there for each other every single time after, always afraid in the back of their mind that if they tried to care and let the other in that it would destroy them, no matter how much they wanted to help each other. And then Instrumentality wrapped them in it's illusionary embrace, and they had to face those unthought fears.

But this time, it was like a lifeline. Full of a desperate need to know the other was really there, that they weren't alone, that they admitted they needed each other.

Their second was one long kiss, lips smashed together like they were afraid something might pull them apart and pressing for as much contact as possible. Then, they pulled back for a moment, eyes open and searching, nearly panicking as they looked for confirmation in each others gaze. And finding it, they smiled shakily at each other before Shinji gently placed his hand behind her neck, and pulled her back for another kiss.

Their third kiss was gentle and short, and quickly followed by a fourth, a fifth, and more. Each gentle, like they simply didn't want to stop and were content with the silence.

What could have been moments later, or hours or days, they stopped. Asuka rested her cheek against his as they simply listened to each other breath, their hands gently tangled in each other's hair.

And slowly, finally, the panic began to slip away and their memories return. So many memories.

Memories of laughter, and contentment. Of rage, and crying. Memories of school, and NERV. Of home, and family. Memories of what felt like a hundred lifetimes. So many memories they wondered how they could hold it all in their minds and keep any of it straight. And they latched onto the same solid strand running through each and every one; they were always together, one way or another, at one time or another, before or after someone else. Always.

They opened their eyes, and storm met ocean.

And they just breathed.

"I'm sorry"

They spoke in synch, and each knew what the other meant.

"I love you."

And they just breathed, the world around them not mattering. Even as they heard splashing and gasping as others surfaced, people that lived there returning from their own Instrumentality. Even when Misato ran up to them, dropping next to them with tears in her eyes, but not touching them when she saw the identical looks on their faces. Faces she would later describe as being so young, but with eyes that seemed so old yet full of equal parts love, sorrow, and happiness. Eyes that were focused only on each other as they slowly breathed in synch.

They didn't look up when Toji and Hikari, holding hands like the other might vanish if they let go, walked shakily over to them and sat down on the opposite side from Misato. They didn't stop when Gendo crawled out of the sea and collapsed nearby, a sobbing wreck of a man as he whispered 'I'm sorry' over and over again. They didn't stop when Kaji found Misato, and the two collapsed together, the man holding the sobbing love of his life. They'd didn't stop when Ritsuko crawled out beside Gendo, took his hand, and just held him as he turned and put his face to her shoulder and let every lifetime of loss and guilt pour out with his tears while her own tears fell silently on the top of his head.

Eventually they blinked, once, quickly, as if afraid the other might still vanish if they looked away for too long.

"I love you." they murmur, "And I'm sorry I took so long."

_Just breathe,_ Asuka thought as she bent down for another kiss, _Just breathe, and focus on what's in front of you._

0o0o0o0

_Breathe, Hikari, focus on breathing._ Hikari Horaki told her self over and over as she stared up at the slowly brightening sky. _You're ok, just breathe and then you can get up._

Slowly the panic ebbed until the pins-and-needles feeling faded from her lips and fingers, and she shakely tried to sit up. Closing her eyes tightly as she pushed up, she missed Touji bolt upright beside her. But she didn't miss his gasp and could hear his rapid, panicked breathing. Snapping her eyes open, she swung her gaze to him so fast that in the back of her mind she was suprised she didn't get whiplash.

"Touji."

The whisper of his name was enough to draw his gaze to her face. When their eyes locked, both stopped breathing as a thousand thoughts filled their minds. A thousand memories, a thousand lifetimes. Life with each other, without each other. School, Nerv, home, far apart and close by.

And just like that, the panic was back. Clinching their throats tight and wrapping iron bands around their chests, spots already starting to dance before their eyes.

"Breathe," Hikari gasped, strangled sounding, "just breathe. We're alive, Touji, I'm alive."

"Hikari...?" her name escapes his throat in a choked sob, and despite his normal macho attitude he doesn't care that he's crying, because she's there. They're both there, and he feels the panic recede as the realization takes hold. And reaching out, he gentle brushes her cheek, and the panic pulls back from her mind too.

"Touji!" she cries, and pushes off from where she sits and throws herself into his chest, burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing.

Catching her, he sobs with her as they both let the memories settle in their minds and accept the knowledge. Instrumentality, an event thought to mean the end of mankind and the merging of every mind into one being. Instead, because of Asuka and Shinji, it gave every person on Earth what seemed like a thousand chances to live their life.

And it changed some,it broke others, and some never came back to the surface, having chosen to stay inside the false world that Instrumentality gave them.

"We're ok, I'm ok."

And just like Asuka and Shinji, they speak in synch. They say it over and over, simply holding each other as they gradually convince themselves and each other that what they're saying is true. Eventually, they quiet down, simply holding tightly to each other and gradually relaxing.

After what seemed like hours, they pulled back and looked at each other. And sighing, they nod, and help each other stand. The memories of losing each other, all the varied ways you can lose someone, hanging in their minds as they watch each other. But they don't let it change the now.

They're together now, so they just walk to where they know, without understanding why, that Shinji and Asuka are.

And they breathe.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. I'm tempted to try and write a similar one for the other two couples I mentioned, Gendo and Ritsuko as well as Misato and Kaji. But it'll use a different prompt.


	2. Things You Miss

**Neon Genesis Evangelion  
Pilot's Table  
By D.A.  
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Title: Things You Miss  
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 46 (Missing)  
Word Count:1600+  
Rating: T  
Summary: Instrumentality showed them every way they could be crushed, and every way they could be happy. And in the end, it made them choose. Reach the surface and crawl out on shore, or be lost forever in Instrumentality.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Notes: Hope you enjoy this one as well. It was a bit of a struggle to write, as I'm not a major fan of these four characters. I hope I got a their perspectives in-character, though obviously I get some leeway since they just got out of Instrumentality. I also wanted to try and do my own take on them, maybe expand on their characters. Part two of the "Awakening" story arc.

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The panic he felt when he finally reached the surface was enough to almost paralyze him and let him sink down to drown. Using the last of his old self's iron control, he forced himself to shore before he collapsed, before what he had experienced inside Instrumentality overcame every scrap of self-control he had left.

Instrumentality had shown him, by letting him live his life over and over, everything he had missed. From the few short years he had with Yui after Second Impact, to the time he could have had with Shinji before Sachiel had made his appearance, to the life he could have shared with Ritsuko. Every missed moment was laid bare before his mind while he was lost inside Instrumentality.

And it broke him, chipped away at the steel grip he had on his sorrow. Sorrow that had wrapped tighter around his heart every moment after Yui was lost, tighter with every moment away from Shinji. And it piled guilt on top. Guilt for every decision that hurt Shinji, guilt for his manipulation of Ritsuko, even when he knew he was slowly falling for her with every secret shared and night spent together and denying it every second with his continued plan for Instrumentality.

And as he finally saw his son only a dozen feet away with the girl, the young woman, he had chosen to be with, Gendo Ikari broke down for the first time in decades and sobbed.

"I'm sorry," he gasped between sobs, "I'm so sorry."

He sobbed and gasped and begged, collapsed to his knees and arms wrapped tightly around his stomach as he fought both the almost gut wrenching sorrow of every missed moment and stomach turning disgust at his former actions.

And not once did the two acknowledge him.

0o0o0o0

Ritsuko gasped as she broke the surface, taking in lungfulls of air. Real air, not the illusion of Instrumentality that had almost trapped her within the idealized world she had wanted ever since Gendo had begun manipulating her.

At the thought of Gendo she immediately turned, and spotting him kneeling on the shore, she made her way to the beach and crawled out of the surf towards him.

Some called her obsessive, which in many ways she was. She was somewhat OCD, and often short tempered as a result when things would not go as she had meticulisly planned out. But when she heard others describe her as obsessive, she didn't think of those things, she thought of Gendo.

She could admit it now, after Instrumentality had shown her the various ways they could have worked together, lived together, even killed each other during the many End Games that could've lead to Instrumentality. She was, almost until the end, obsessed with Gendo Ikari just like her mother. Not until things began to fall in place for his planned Instrumentality did she begin to look inward and examine herself.

And what she saw turned her stomach. Instrumentality pulled it all to the front of her mind, all the twisted ways she could have lived and died in her obsession with Gendo Ikari and her misguided jealousy of the attention he paid to Rei.

And at the same time it showed her that passed that, she had truly fallen for Gendo. That if he would change as a result of his own experience inside Instrumentality, he just might love her back.

So she crawled to him, and hearing his sobs she froze. She had never once heard him make any sounds that could even remotely be mistaken for sorrow or regret. But she was beside him now, and he was sobbing as he begged for forgiveness from his son.

She took his hand, gripping it as tightly as she could while she noticed Shinji and Asuka nearby, the two surrounded by Misato and Kaji as well as Hikari and Touji. And it shocked her when, as if her touch was a signal, he twisted where he was kneeling and grabbed her in a bear-hug and cried into her shoulder. She placed her hands around his shoulders, and when she realized he had changed what he was saying her own tears began to fall into his dark hair.

Because his plea was directed to her specifically now, and he was unknowingly telling her the words she had wanted to hear since she tried to stop him in Terminal Dogma.

"I'm sorry for it all, Ritsuko," he sobbed, "I love you, and I'm sorry I missed it for so long."

0o0o0o0

The first thing she noticed was missing, was that her side didn't hurt. Not like a numb not hurt, but a whole and healthy not hurt. The next was a roof, she distinctly remembered being in a hallway.

And then her life, or lives, began to flash before her eyes and cement themselves in her memory. Every possible moment with Kaji, and NERV, and the Children. Even memories of teaching at a school, of having her own children, of babysitting the kids of the Pilots. And it hurt, not because it was too much to take in but because it was all false, all memories made inside Instrumentality.

But two thoughts anchored themselves at the front of her mind, Kaji and-

"The Children," she gasped, then called louder, "Shinji! Asuka!"

She stood shakily, eyes focusing down the beach in what she somehow knew was the direction they were, and took off running. Not even noticing as Kaji surfaced where she had just a few minutes before.

She ran until her lungs were burning, and finally spotted the two of them, Asuka crouched over Shinji as he lay on the beach. When she got closer she realized they were kissing, and it hit her with a mix of joy and surprise. She was so happy they finally let each other close, but still somehow surprised they'd done so at all.

And just as she reached them, before she could pull them both into the mother of all hugs, she caught sight of the expression on their faces and the look in their eyes. And it took the breath from her lungs and dropped her to her knees.

"You aren't my Children anymore," she spoke quietly, not noticing the tears trickling down her cheeks, "You grew up in there, and I missed it..."

And it hurt a little, missing them growing up. Sure she had her memories of Instrumentality, memories a hundred times over of them growing up, and yes she wasn't their actual mother. But somehow, the look in their eyes said they had grown up without Instrumentality. That somehow, they had shared the same dreams inside Instrumentality, dreams no one else saw.

And she missed it.

And then Kaji wrapped his arounds around her. And as even more tears poured from her eyes she realized she had a chance to see some of the things Instrumentality had shown her she missed in her search for revenge against the Angels.

0o0o0o0

The last thing he remembered, before the haze of Instrumentality, was being shot and then hearing doctors saying something about life-support. Thus, he was understandably confused when he found himself a few dozen feet off shore and perfectly healthy.

Confused, and feeling a stab of panic as he watched Misato take off down the beach and realized he was going to miss his chance to tell her in-person what he had left on her answering machine. Something Instrumentality had forced him to realize he should have told her years ago instead of letting her run away after college.

As he reached shore and began to follow her at a jog, he thought through all the memories that flowed through his head. Memories of so many lifetimes he could've had with Misato. Memories of the Children, and of children that could've been his and Misato's. Memories of NERV, and a school. Memories of ways his obsession with Truth had stopped him from getting the things Instrumentailty tempted him with, of ways his obsession could have gotten him killed so much sooner than it had.

He accepted that he had missed a great deal of his life when he let her go and chose to seek the Truth. And in accepting, he chose to not let it slip through his fingers now that he had a second chance.

Walking up to Misato he spotted Gendo on his knees nearby with tears pouring from his eyes, but he ignored him and instead watched Shinji and Asuka on the beach in front of Misato with Touji and Hikari nearby.

And he heard the two of them say something he felt honestly glad he hadn't missed as he took Misato into his arms and held her as she sobbed. Something he was afraid he would never hear Asuka say to anyone, let alone the two of them towards each other.

"I love you," they murmurred, "And I'm sorry I took so long."

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A/N: Hope you liked it. This is a companion piece to Just Breathe, and like that one is another take on what could have happened when they woke up on the beach when Shinji chose to end Instrumentality.


	3. Join Me, Living A New Life?

**Neon Genesis Evangelion  
Pilot's Table  
By D.A.  
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Title: Join me, Living a new Life?  
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 4 (Joy)  
Word Count: 2400+  
Rating: T  
Summary: By Shinji's choice, all the poeple of Earth, all the people he knew, are granted a second chance at life. Not a repeat, but a continuation from where they left off. A chance to make up for their pasts, and move forward.

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Notes: I just realized I haven't included either Rei or Kaworu in the last few chapters other than mentioning them. So I decided to do a chapter about them, and that snowballed into a third chapter for what I'm calling the "Awakening" Arc of my Pilot's Table drabble series.

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Rei watched, hovering above the sea as it slowly changed from orange to blue once more and people continued to escape the grip of Instrumentality.

Floating just a foot above the gentle surf, she watched with a small smile and a few tears as Shinji and Asuka connected, finally letting their hearts bind in a way that they had longed for without even realizing since they synched during their training for Israfel and that fateful kiss later on. She watched as Hikari and Touji awoke and found comfort in each other's presence, beginning to bind themselves together in much the same way Asuka and Shinji had. She smiled when Kaji and Misato reconnected their broken hearts, starting to heal and one day build the future they had thrown away in fear and hate.

She watched as the man who had raised her, despite his errors and mistakes, finally admitted his connection to Ritsuko, the woman who had hated her for most of her memory for simply having more of Gendo's attention than she had. She watched, smiled, and cried as her father connected with the woman she, without consciously knowing, had wanted to consider her mother.

And she wept, because she couldn't join them. She was bound to Lilith, and with Instrumentality collapsing Lilith was dying. So was she, the feeling even now starting to creep into her fingers and toes as she shifted forward and set down on the shore not far from the group of people she considered family, now that Instrumentality had granted her glimpses into the varied realities that could have been.

How she wanted to find her place here with them, wanted it so badly it hurt and pulled more tears from her eyes as she finally broke down and fell to her knees sobbing, unnoticed by the people around her. Unnoticed by all but one.

"Ayanami?"

The voice startled her, and she hiccupped as she jerked her head around and stared at the boy kneeling beside her, a boy she had helped kill though Shinji never knew of her involvement and the guilt she had struggled with though she hadn't known why she felt guilty at the time.

"Tabris...?"

"Come now," Kaworu smiled a small, almost fragile smile, as he tilted his head slightly to the side, "You know I prefer the name Shinji-kun knew me by."

"I'm sorry," she returned the smile with a very shaky one of her own, and ducked her head to hide her tear stained face behind her shoulder-length blue hair, "How did you come to be here, Kaworu?"

"Rei, you know why." was his gentle answer.

Nodding her head, Rei touched what she could still reach of Lilith's knowledge. Shinji's choice meant everyone he knew could come back and live again if they wanted.

"You should go to him, then," her voice shook as she fought more tears, "He'll be glad you came back, once he and Asuka finish their bonding-"

And she broke down in tears again, as the pain overrode her fragile control, control that had once rivalled the commander's. Kaworu placed an arm over her shoulders, and stiffened in shock when Rei copied Gendo and nearly threw herself into him. Wrapping her shivering arms around his waist, Rei sobbed into his chest, and he wrapped both arms around her.

They spent long moments that way, as Rei cried and Kaworu gently shushed her tears until she calmed. Hand light on her cheek, he tilted her face back until she could see his face, and he smiled. A warm, joy-filled smile despite the faint tear tracks on his face that lit a spark of hope in her heart against her will.

"Rei, that chance is given to you too." he whispered, "Can't you feel it? Lilith is letting you go before her fall takes you with her."

And when he said it, she realized it was true. The tingling had faded and instead of being numb she found the bond she had with Lilith was nearly gone. Only a thin link remained, and through it she could feel hope feeding into that spark Kaworu's smile had ignited. And then it was gone, like the flick of a switch, and all she had left was herself. Only her uncertainty and fears, as well as her hopes and all her memories of the lifetimes inside Instrumentality.

And she smiled, the fullest smile anyone who knew her had ever seen.

0o0o0o0

Odd. This was the first thought Tabris had, or as he prefered to be called during his time among humans, Kaworu.

His second was that he should be joined in the sea of Consciousness that was Instrumentality, since he had been in the presence of Lilith when he died. Not on the shore of Japan under an orange sky as the sun rose, next to a sea slowly turning from orange to blue.

His third was cut off rather abruptly when, as he sat up, he spotted Rei suspended over the sea staring at something further down the beach from where he was. Turning his gaze to find what she saw, he instantly spotted Shinji and Asuka. Not only saw them, but could feel the slowly settling turmoil of emotion around them.

He smiled when he felt the turmoil flow into love, and happiness, tinged with all the other emotions present in life that made it such a wonderous experience. Everything, good and bad, that flavored life and made him wonder how SEELE could have been so driven to erase it all through triggering Instrumentality.

He continued to smile, though now it was just a touch sad, as the varied memories and experiences from within Instrumentality caressed his mind and settled into place. A new chance was not what he had expected when the Lilim triggered the massive psychic bonding that waking Lilith caused. But it was not an unwelcome surprise. It was nice to know his kind's progenitor had spent his last energies to buy them an out through Instrumentality when Shinji chose to return. He could only hope they took the chance so he might get to know his brothers and sisters as he had a chance to know Shinji.

A sound caught the edge of his attention, and when he turned to find the source he instantly stood and began to walk. Rei was on her knees not fifteen feet from Shinji and his family, for that is what Kaworu knew he considered them, and she was sobbing such that it twisted at his heart.

Kneeling beside her, his normal sense of joy dimmed by the sorrow he felt rolling off Rei, he found he didn't know what to say. So he settled for the simplest thing.

"Ayanami?"

And when he had finally calmed her, the smile she gave him made it all worth it. Worth every twist of his heart, worth the guilt he felt for when he forced Shinji and her to stop him, worth giving up the percieved perfection of Instrumentality for the reality of life here. And he found he regretted not getting to know Rei before, but was glad he had a chance now.

Ode to Joy caught on the edge of his thoughts, and letting a bit of his power flow through his voice, he hummed the tune and let everyone on the shore for miles around feel through the song the joy he felt at this rebirth.

0o0o0o0

"Kaworu..." Rei started and trailed off, once the Angel had finished the song.

"Yes, Rei." his reply felt like an answer to her, though she hadn't even asked the question on her mind.

They were now next to the others as they sat on the beach and watched the sun continue to rise above water that was again blue. The men, for after the trials and lives before and within Instrumentality none of the youths could ever be called children again, sat or leaned back on one arm as they held the women. It was a calm scene, a pause that seemed to fill with contentment and a sense of peace no one present had felt in a very long time.

"I did not finish my question." she stated, a small smile she was quickly learning loved to slide onto her face for the smallest of reasons once again on her lips, and she turned her head enough to be able to see his face and his answering smile.

"True, but now you have my answer and may use it how you like." Kaworu replied serenely, "I do not fear what you might do. I trust you the way Shinji-kun now trusts Asuka."

His statement gives her pause. She had been going to ask him if she could live with him, for her appartment was destroyed when her prior incarnation had used the self-destruct in her Eva to kill Armasael. Instead, she decided to follow Asuka's lead and change her question to one less serious and more playful.

"Then bend your head and look me in the eye."

Now confused, the expression on his face one she had yet to see and which gave her a need to giggle which she quickly surpressed, he turned his head and bent his neck to comply with her request.

And nearly jumped out of his shoes when she placed both her hands on his cheeks and touched a light, lingering kiss to his lips.

"I-" he blinked, their faces barely a couple inches apart, "I-uh, I do not believe that was your original question, was it...?"

"I decided to-uh do as you said, and used..." she trailed off for a second, the flow of emotion her attempt at teasing had sent through her had surprised her, before she caught herself and finished almost in a rush, "used your answer to my benefit."

Giggling nearby caused both Nephili to jump and turn to see that Shinji, Asuka, Gendo and Ritsuko had apparently all seen Rei's actions. Asuka and Ritsuko both smirked, Asuka teasingly and Ritsuko both happy and nervous, which sent a shiver of excitement and nerves down her spine. Shinji merely smiled, content and happy. Gendo watched the two of them for a few long seconds, enough to cause Kaworu to begin to feel nervous for reasons he did not yet understand and Rei to be worried, before he gave them a small smile with his eyes twinkling at some internal joke. Which instanly turned Rei's nerves and worry into mild annoyance that he would make a joke at her expense. Which was both new to her and welcome.

Standing and helping Ritsuko to her feet, Gendo looked the group over as they all turned to watch him.

"Come," his voice was a touch rougher from crying, but his tone was softer than any of them had heard, as he gestured inland with his free hand, "Let's find some shade, and maybe some food, before we go looking for home."

"Commander, the Geofront is gone. So is most of the city." Misato said, using his title out of habit, as Kaji gave her a hand up and the others stood too.

"I did not say base," he corrected gently, at least gently for him, which was enough of a change that they noticed, and he turned his gaze on Ritsuko, "I said home. Perhap near Nagoya, I believe you had cousins there, correct?"

"I think so, yes." Ritsuko nodded, her expression business-like as she thought, "I haven't spoken to them in years, but they were always very friendly, the opposite of mother. I'm confident they would be glad to see and help us."

"Sounds good to me," Kaji put in his two cents, "What about you guys? After that mess, you aren't really kids who need guardians anymore."

The three young pairs looked a bit surprised, both at his implying they were adults and that none of the others tried to correct him. They shared a glance, the feeling of an unspoken conversation strong between the couples, especially Asuka and Shinji.

"You're family," Shinji said, backed by nods of agreement from the others, even Touji and Hikari, "Of course we'll follow you."

The feeling of warmth that spread through the group at his words stayed with them as they set out, the youths leading the way and the adults willing to let them take control. Their shadows stretched out before them, much like their future, they were content to walk in silence.

And when Kaworu again began to hum Ode to Joy, his happiness still over-flowing, they hummed with him. Their combined joy filling the air around them, and everything seemed that much brighter and new.

They knew, after Instrumentality, that there was no 'happily-ever-after'. But they also knew that it was up to each individual to make of it what they would, and to choose each day to look on the future with hope and acceptance. Remembering the past while moving to the future, and living each moment to the fullest.

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed my take on these two, and how I wrapped up my version of the end of End of Evangelion. I always hated how it finished with such a sense of hopelessness, with Shinji almost killing Asuka and the two of them alone and broken on the shore of a red sea under a blood-slashed night sky.

Please, read all three chapters of my "Awakening" story arc, and leave at least one review for the entire arc. I really want to know your opinions.

This is D.A. signing out, for now.

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